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The United States is
at war, and it's impossible to know where terrorists will strike
next -- which is why it's critical that we establish an effective
immigrant screening process to determine which aliens might pose a
threat to national security, says a new paper from The Heritage
Foundation.

The Justice
Department's Office of Inspector General recently issued a report
that identifies a number of problems and inefficiencies in the
screening system put in place immediately after Sept. 11. They
include delays in notifying aliens of
the charges against them and, in some cases, denying their right to
challenge the government's decision to hold them without bond or
beyond the 90-day removal deadline.

But this
doesn't mean the entire system is broken, according to Heritage's
Michael Scardaville. "The Inspector General's report shows that
serious problems can arise when major policy initiatives are
implemented during a time of crisis," says Scardaville, a policy
analyst for homeland security. "But the report also suggests that
instituting the appropriate planning and safeguards in the
clearance process could correct these problems."

Those
safeguards include: Establishing an alien screening and clearance
center under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), amending
federal law to allow DHS to detain aliens suspected of having
terrorist ties longer than 90 days, and expanding congressional
oversight of immigration and nationalization policy.

With these relatively
simple changes, the U.S. can improve homeland security, while also
ensuring the rights of aliens and immigrants.